For a study, researchers sought to determine how successful a structured skin care program was at preventing and treating incontinence-associated dermatitis (IAD) in critically sick patients. Participants were recruited from three teaching hospitals’ intensive care units between January 2016 and December 2017. Patients were eligible if they were above the age of ≥18, had idiopathic fecal incontinence, had diarrhea but couldn’t feel it, and were scheduled to be in the ICU for at least 72 hours after developing incontinence. A total of 143 patients were included in the study, with 79 assigned to the experimental group and 64 assigned to the control group. Routine skin care measures were employed in the first part of the trial; in the second phase, three ICU caregivers were taught to offer a systematic skin care program. Data collection and analysis were carried out by trained research team members. In presenting the study outcomes, the TREND (Transparent Reporting of Evaluations with Nonrandomized Designs) Statement Checklist was used.
The structured skin care program reduced the incidence of IAD from 35.9% in the control phase to 17.7% in the intervention phase (χ2=6.117, P<.05). It also lowered the severity of IAD (z=−2.023, P<.05). Furthermore, IAD developed later in the intervention group (z=−2.116, P<.05) than in the control group. Furthermore, the nursing times to prevent or treat IAD were not substantially different across groups (t=−0.258, P>.05; t=−1.190, P>.05). The use of a systematic skin care program devised for IAD in critically sick patients reduced the incidence and severity of IAD and delayed its progression.
